Tulsi Gabbard - American politician, Democrat and Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii’s 2nd district

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Tulsi Gabbard is an American politician who serves as the United States Representative of the second Congressional District of Hawaii since 2013.

She was a member of the Democratic Party until 28 February 2016 when she resigned to support Senator Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. Elected in 2012, she was the first Samoan-American member of the US Congress and the first Hindu member.

Gabbard served in the Hawaii Army National Guard field medical unit in the fighting zone in Iraq from 2004 to 2005. And was later deployed to Kuwait. From 2002 to 2004 she was a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives.

She was only 21 when she was elected to the Hawaiian House. She was the youngest woman to be elected as the United States state legislature.

Tulsi Gabbard’s Early life

Tulsi Gabbard was born on 12 April 1981 in Leloaloa, Samoa. She is the fourth of Carol’s and Mike Gabbard’s five children. His family moved to Hawaii in 1983, when Gabbard was two years old. Her dad is a member of the Senate of Hawaii.

Gabbard was raised in a multicultural and multi-religious household. Her father, of Samoan and European ancestry, is an active reader in his Catholic Church.

Her mother, born in Decatur, Indiana, is European and a Hindu practitioner. While Tulsi was a teenager, she chose Hinduism as her religion.

Gabbard was educated at home in high school, except for two years at a missionary academy for girls in the Philippines. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Hawaii Pacific University in 2009.

Tulsi Gabbard’s Career

In 2002, Gabbard (as Gabbard Tamayo) represented the 42nd House District of the Hawaii House of Representatives. She won the 4-candidate Democratic Primary with a plurality of 48% (30%), Dolfo Ramos (18%) and Gerald Vidal (4%). And became the youngest legislator ever elected in Hawaii’s history in the same year and the youngest woman elected to state office in the country.

She also represented the 42nd Oahu district of Waipahu, Honolulu and Ewa Beach. LGBT rights, including same-sex marriages and civil unions, were also opposed.

She informed her constituents on 30 April 2011 that she resumed using her birth name, Tulsi Gabbard. She announced her candidacy for the seat of the House in May 2011 and was endorsed by the Sierra Club, Emily’s List and VoteVets.org.

At the end of 2012, Tulsi applied for appointment to the Senate vacated by the death of Daniel Inouye. And was subsequently re-elected to the House on 4 November 2014, defeating Crowley once again: 78.7% to 18.6%.

She was re-elected to the house in 2016. On 4 January 2017, she introduced Bill HR 258 prohibiting the use of US government funds to assist A1 Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). And also countries that directly or indirectly support these organizations.

New York publisher Amy Davidson and Boston Globe reporter James Pindell described Gabbard as a potential presidential candidate for 2020 in 2016. Tulsi Gabbard describes the troubling dual standard of Trump in A1- Qaeda.

She has won many awards, including John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award (2013) and the NACo County Alumni Award (2015) for their consistent commitment to the counties of the nation. The Association of National Parks Conservation has also awarded her the Friend of National Parks Award.

Tulsi Gabbard’s Syria trip

In January 2017, Gabbard met President Bashar al-Assad during a trip to Syria and Lebanon, which she said was an unplanned meeting.

In a press release, Gabbard stated that the journey was approved by the House Ethics Committee and sponsored by the Arab American Economic and Social Services Community Centre. Gabbard “reportedly refused to inform House leadership in advance, met with Bashar al-Assad, toured with officials from a Lebanese political party actively supporting Assad, and received funding from an American organization that counts one of those officials as itsexecutive director.” She also criticized the US removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power.

Tulsi Gabbard’s Relation with Trump

Gabbard became the second Democrat (after Michelle Rhee) to meet President-elect Donald Trump and his Trump Tower transition team on 21 November 2016.

She described the meeting as “frank and positive.” Gabbard spoke against Trump’s executive order that refugees from seven mainly Muslim countries should be banned, saying that thorough vetting was enough.

Gabbard did not join the 169 Congressional Democrats who signed a letter of opposition to the appointment of Stephen Bannon as chief strategist of Trump. But co-sponsored a bill to remove Bannon from the National Security Council.

Tulsi Gabbard’s Personal life

To date, the lovely congresswoman was married twice. Eduardo Tamayo was her first husband. Both got married in 2002 and were already divorced by 2006. Before they divided, the public knew nothing about Tamayo.

She had her second marriage with Abraham Williams in April 2015. Both have been able to maintain a very private relationship since they were married. The couple have no kids yet but we wish one soon.

Tulsi Gabbard’s Net worth

Gabbard got a net worth of $250,000. She quotes that she is satisfied with her earning. When she was an army woman she earned $70,844 to $88,000 per annum. As of now, as US representative for Hawaii is around $174, 000.

Tulsi Gabbard’s Facts/Latest news

Tuisi is a Hindu practitioner and a lifelong vegetarian, too. She opposed the rights of LGBT. The woman believed that marriage of the same sex should not be legalized like civil unions.

In an interview with CNN’s Van Jones on The Van Jones Show on 11 January 2019, she confirmed her intention to seek the Democratic presidential nomination and announced “within the next week.”